VIDEO: Man Utd flop Antony copies Cristiano Ronaldo celebration after scoring stunning long-range goal for Real Betis to sink Atletico Madrid

Former United ‘bomb squad’ flop Antony has continued his career revitalisation at Betis after signing for the La Liga side permanently in the summer. He scored the only goal of the game away at Atletico on Sunday, cutting in onto his left foot and firing home at the near post from long range, catching goalkeeper Jan Oblak by surprise.

The Brazil international showed his admiration for former United team-mate Ronaldo after scoring, as he copied one of the great Portuguese’s iconic celebrations.

He has shown his respect for Ronaldo before, soon after signing for United in 2022. Antony said of his new team-mate at the time: "Words can’t describe Cristiano, the best in the world. In just a few days, I've learnt a lot from him. He has an extraordinary mind and, whenever I talk to him, I take a lot from it.”

Antony recently received comparisons with CR7 himself from Betis team-mate Marc Bartra, who claimed the Brazilian is "a mixture of Ronaldo and Neymar" after his decisive performances for Betis.

Per Marca, Betis manager Manuel Pellegrini said at full-time after the victory, which came just three days after a 5-0 home defeat to Atletico in the Copa del Rey: "It has been key to maintain defensive security and not concede three goals like in the previous match. We stayed alert, focused, intense, and we didn't allow Atletico Madrid to have the spaces they had on Thursday.”

The Chilean added on Antony: “I'm happy for him because it was a great goal; he comes with pubalgia problems that don't prevent him from playing. The pain gets stronger when it gets cold. He worked a lot on the wing. Atletico has full-backs who constantly go on the attack. It was a complete team effort both defensively and offensively.”

Betis strengthened their grip on fifth place in La Liga with the victory, with Antony likely to play an important role if the Andalusia-based outfit are to push for a Champions League spot come the end of the campaign.

The former Ajax winger struggled at Old Trafford following his big-money £86m ($116m) move but has found his feet again in La Liga, one of several ex-United players to rediscover themselves elsewhere in recent seasons, alongside the likes of Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay and Rasmus Hojlund.